A decade of cardiothoracic surgery at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan

Objective: The medical records at Aga Khan University were reviewed to analyze the trends, mortality and patients characteristics of cardiothoracic surgeries in the last decade.METHOD: The medical records of all adult cardiac, thoracic and combined cardiothoracic operations performed during January 1995 to December 2004 at the Aga Khan University Hospital were reviewed. Data were retrieved and analyzed for trends, patient characteristics, and procedure mortality.Results: From January 1995 - December 2004, 4553 cases were eligible for the study, of which 73% were males and 9.4% were children. Male to female ratio changed from 1.3:1 to 3:1 from childhood to adulthood. Number of patients requiring cardiothoracic intervention increased continuously throughout the period, cardiac operations outnumbering thoracic or combined procedures. Ten-year average annual mortality remained 4.8% with slight variation per annum. Age distribution of cardiac surgery patients remained the same, however, constantly increasing number of over-70-year olds was observed. Mortality for isolated CABG, isolated valve and CABG with valve remained 1.9%, 4.3% and 18.3% respectively.CONCLUSION: Trends of cardiothoracic procedures appear similar to those in the developed countries, so are the mortality figures

Anemia in a middle aged female with aortitis: a case report.

Abstract BACKGROUND: Idiopathic aortitis is among the most common causes of non-infectious aortitis, which rarely presents with anemia. CASE PRESENTATION: Here we report a case of a 49-year-old muhajir female who presented with shortness of breath and easy fatigability for the past 6 months. Physical examination revealed pallor and a diastolic murmur in the aortic region. Echocardiography showed thickened and calcified aortic and mitral valves, severe aortic regurgitation and dilatation of ascending aorta. She was advised aortic valve replacement and was referred to a haematologist due to concomitant anemia. Complete blood counts revealed haemoglobin: 7.7 gm/dl, mean corpuscular volume (MCV): 78 fl, mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH):23 pg, total white cell count: 9.0 × 10(9)/L and platelet count: 227 × 10(9)/L. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was 100 mm/hr. There was suspicion of myelodysplastic syndrome, but could not be confirmed as the patient refused bone marrow and cytogenetic studies. She was given erythropoietin, folic acid and ferrous sulphate. Following relatively prolonged therapy, her haemoglobin level increased to approximately 9.0 gm/dL. She was transfused with packed red cells and underwent aortic valve and ascending aorta replacement. The ascending aorta was dilated and aortic wall markedly thick and irregular. Histopathology of the resected aorta revealed granulomatous aortitis. She was prescribed prednisolone, which resulted in further incremental rise of haemoglobin to 13.1 gm/dL. One month later, she developed complaints of blurred vision in the right eye and was diagnosed with central retinal vein occlusion. She was treated with antiplatelet agents and her vision improved. After 3 months, she was asymptomatic and her haemoglobin level rose to 11.2 gm/dL without hematinic therapy or blood transfusion. She was begun on anticoagulant therapy and remains clinically stable. CONCLUSION: We report a case of idiopathic aortitis with presumed diagnosis of anemia of chronic disease exhibiting a transient response towards steroid therapy post-valvuloplasty

Paradigm shift in the surgical training: The era of innovation, simulation and beyond

This is an era of transformation of surgical education and training. Modern methods of training are being introduced at a rapid pace and are being adopted in surgical practice not only to improve the outcomes and patient satisfaction, but also to provide an opportunity to develop a new well-structured training curriculum by integrating both traditional and modern approaches to teach and learn surgical skills. Various surgical simulators are in use as training aids and are constantly undergoing further refinement and development. To achieve a smooth transition in surgical training to modern methods, a structured programme has to be developed and validated to bridge the gaps in terms of safety, efficiency and ethics during the training process

Direct true lumen versus conventional cannulation for acute type-A aortic dissection

Acute type-A aortic dissection is a surgical emergency and has a high rate of short-term mortality. Aortic dissection is highly under-reported in Pakistan. With the technological developments in its management, arterial cannulation technique of direct true lumen cannulation has emerged with improved outcomes. We aimed to compare the mortality and morbidity outcomes between direct true lumen and conventional cannulation techniques for arterial access in patients with acute type- A aortic dissection under a single-centre retrospective review from 2007 to 2017. Mean age of the participants was 43.3±11.6 vs 45±12.4 years with males being dominant in both groups. Frequency of overall morbidity was high in conventional cannulation group (Group-B), though it did not attain statistical significance, (p\u3e0.999). Mortality rate was also high in Group-B (10% vs 30%), (p=0.582). Direct true lumen cannulation is an equally reliable option for establishing cardiopulmonary bypass due to reduced mortality and morbidity and may be given preference when dissection is extending into femoral and innominate arteries

Redo coronary artery surgery; early and intermediate outcomes from a tertiary care hospital in a developing country

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate outcomes of re-operative coronary artery surgery in a tertiary care hospital in a developing country. METHOD: Preoperative, intra-operative and postoperative variables were analyzed in 82 consecutive patients who underwent re-operative coronary surgery on cardiopulmonary bypass. RESULTS: The mean age was 63.3 +/- 7.7 years, 91.2% were male and 9.8% female. Coronary artery disease risk factors were present in more than 50% of the patients. History of preoperative myocardial infarction was positive in 56% patients. There was strong clinical and angiographic indication for surgery with unstable angina in 50% patients and \u3e 80% had multivessel disease. Only 5% patients were in functional class I. The risk stratification showed a mean Euro score of 8. The IABP was used in 20% patients. A mean of 3.1 grafts per patient were applied. The median cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and aortic cross clamp time was 144 minutes respectively. Postoperative mortality was 7.3%. Short-term follow up revealed 74% of the patients in NYHA functional class I. CONCLUSION: Reoperative coronary artery bypass grafting is challenging but with expertise, team effort can be performed with good functional outcome

Cardiac Toxicity of HER2-Directed Therapy in Women with Breast Cancer: Epidemiology, Etiology, Risk Factors, and Management

The HER2-targeted therapy have profoundly changed the outcomes of women with HER2-positive breast cancers. Trastuzumab and pertuzumab, HER2-targeting monoclonal antibodies, lapatinib and Neratinib, small molecule inhibitors of HER2 and the epidermal growth factor receptor, and ado-trastuzumab emtansine, a HER2-positive directed antibody drug conjugate, are approved for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer

Is Grown Up Congenital Heart (GUCH) disease different in a developing country?

Abstract In the current era grown up congenital heart disease (GUCH) patients undergoing surgical interventions are increasing. Most of the interventions in the developed countries are either complex or redo-operations in patients who had previously undergone repair, palliation or correction. However, in the developing countries most of the interventions are primary and corrective. This descriptive retrospective study comprised GUCH patients who underwent surgical intervention for congenital heart disease (CHD) at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from January 2006 to December 2015. A total of 195 patients had been treated surgically with a mean age of 31.0±13.5 years. Majority of the patients underwent surgical interventions for closure of atrial 109(55.3%) and ventricular 51(26.2%) septal defect. The most common complications were prolonged ventilation 16(8.1%). Overall mortality was 4(2.1%). GUCH in our practice is for primary procedure with simple diagnosis that should have been treated before reaching adulthood as is done in the developed countries

Iatrogenic trauma following percutaneous and minimally invasive surgical interventions

Technological progress has changed the landscape of surgical practice. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and percutaneous interventions (PC) are constantly replacing open procedures. This reduces hospital stay and allows quicker recovery. The application of MIS should follow the good medical practice dictum by Hippocrates i.e. First do no harm . To remain abreast with new procedures, the medical personnel are required to update and enhance their knowledge and skill. To ensure safety, the innovations are rigorously tested and tried. The learning curve of MIS is shortened by simulator training and proctorship. Credentialing processes are in place to enhance safe delivery of care. Despite of all these measures MIS and PCI are associated with adverse effects. The purpose of this article is to overview the iatrogenic trauma associated with MIS and PCI in major surgical subspecialties

Ionomic profiling of pericardial fluid in ischemic heart disease

Metals are essential cofactors that play a crucial role in heart function at the cell and tissue level. Information regarding the role of metals in the pericardial fluid and its ionome in ischemic heart disease (IHD) is limited. We aimed to determine the association of elements in pericardial fluid and serum samples of IHD patients and their correlation with systolic and diastolic function. IHD patients have been studied with systolic and diastolic dysfunction categorized on the basis of echocardiographic parameters. We measured concentrations of sixteen elements in the pericardial fluid and serum of 46 patients obtained during open heart surgery with IHD by ICP-MS. The levels of chromium and nickel in pericardial fluid were significantly higher as compared with serum samples of IHD patients (p \u3c 0.05). The chromium, nickel and manganese levels in pericardial fluid were lower in patients with ejection fraction (EF) \u3c 45% as compared to EF \u3e 45% (p \u3c 0.05). There was no significant difference in pericardial concentrations of elements in diastolic dysfunction grade 0–1 with 2 in IHD patients. We also found that decreased concentration of these elements in pericardial fluid is associated with decreased systolic function. These results suggest that pericardial fluid concentrations of these metals may reflect the extent of ischemic heart disease. These findings are hypothesis generating with regards to a role in the pathogenesis of the disorder

Pericardial fluid proteomic label-free quantification of differentially expressed proteins in ischemic heart disease patients with systolic dysfunction by nano-LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis

Left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) is common in patients with pre-existing ischemic heart disease (IHD) and myocardial infarction. An untargeted proteomic approach is used to improve the understanding of the molecular mechanisms associated with LVSD and to find out potential proteomic signatures in pericardial fluid. The pericardial fluid of IHD (n = 45) patients was grouped into two categories according to the left ventricular ejection fraction, LVEF ≥45 (n = 33) and LVEF \u3c45 (n = 12), and analyzed by using nano-liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (nano-LC-MS/MS) technique. The nano-LC-MS/MS analysis resulted in the identification of 709 pericardial fluid (PF) proteins in both normal and impaired systolic functional groups (LVEF ≥45 vs. LVEF \u3c45). Sixteen proteins were found to be differentially expressed (p \u3c 0.05, fold change \u3e2) including 12 down-regulated and 4 up-regulated in the impaired systolic functional group (LVEF \u3c45) compared to the normal group (LVEF ≥45). Among the differentially expressed proteins the inflammatory marker albumin, atherosclerosis marker apolipoprotein A-IV and hedgehog-interacting protein marker of angiogenesis were predominantly associated with the impaired LVEF \u3c45 group. KEGG pathway analysis revealed that the hedgehog (Hh) signalling pathway is up-regulated in LVSD reflecting the underlying molecular and pathophysiological processes